Programming laptop

[Doorenism]

Hi everyone. I need a laptop (exclusively) for programming. School recommends the following specs:

 

Windows

• Processor: een Intel i5-8xxx, i7-7xxx of i7-8xxx met minstens 4 processorkernen
• Intern geheugen: minimum 16GB RAM
• Een SSD-schijf is aanbevolen voor het draaien van virtuele machines
• Besturingssysteem: Windows 10 (pro of hoger)

Mac

Voor iOS 9 development wordt OS X E1 Capitan gebruikt. Dat vereist minimaal een van de volgende toestellen:

• MacBook air of MacBook Pro (recente versie) 
• Processor: een Intel i5-8xxx, i7-7xxx of i7-8xxx met minstens 4 processorkernen
• Intern geheugen: minimum 16GB RAM
• Een SSD-schijf is aanbevolen voor het draaien van virtuele machines

 

It's in Dutch but I'm certain everyone can figure it out. Most topics I've read on this forum are from people who can/Will shell out 1-2k. I want the cheapest, most reliable laptop I can find that'll last me for 3 years of programming. Post your suggestions. I'm from Belgium. Doesn't have to be a Belgian store as long as they do shipping to Belgium!

[LukeSavenije]

• CPU: a Intel i5-8xxx, i7-7xxx of i7-8xxx with at least 4 cores
• RAM: at least 16GB RAM
• SSD-drive is recommended for using virtuele machines
• OS: Windows 10 (pro of higher)

• MacBook air or MacBook Pro (recent version)
• CPU: Intel i5-8xxx, i7-7xxx of i7-8xxx with at least 4 cores
• RAM: at least 16GB RAM
• SSD-drive is recommended for using virtuele machines

so you don't need to use translate

 

(yeah im dutch)

[LukeSavenije]

does it need to have some battery, or could you just charge it all day at school?

[Doorenism]

8 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

does it need to have some battery, or could you just charge it all day at school?

I'm guessing some battery would be good. Don't want it to die after 1 hour if possible.

[LukeSavenije]

know you'll get around 1000 euro's with it, this is what I found so far:

http://www.dell.com/nl-be/shop/bekijk-alle-laptops-ultrabooks-tablets/inspiron-15-5000/spd/inspiron-15-5570-laptop/cn57035

[samcool55]

Sounds more to me you need a notebook to run VM's O_o

I did both programming and VM stuff on a laptop with 16GB but only a dual-core with HT. Thing ran fine.

 

[LukeSavenije]

and if you want thunderbolt, you will need to upgrade to XPS laptops, but they are more expensive

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, samcool55 said:

Sounds more to me you need a notebook to run VM's O_o

I did both programming and VM stuff on a laptop with 16GB but only a dual-core with HT. Thing ran fine.

 

with more than one on at the time? you shouldn't do that. believe me, i tried

[samcool55]

4 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

with more than one on at the time? you shouldn't do that. believe me, i tried

Yeah, 2 ESXI's with a few tiny linux vm's and vCenter to manage the whole thing on it

Ran fine as long as i had enough RAM. The upgrade from 8GB to 16GB helped a lot and the fact they were all on SSD's also did a lot.

The CPU could keep up without too many problems actually.

 

The laptop is from 2012 but it served me well for the last 3 years

[LukeSavenije]

15 minutes ago, samcool55 said:

Yeah, 2 ESXI's with a few tiny linux vm's and vCenter to manage the whole thing on it

Ran fine as long as i had enough RAM. The upgrade from 8GB to 16GB helped a lot and the fact they were all on SSD's also did a lot.

The CPU could keep up without too many problems actually.

 

The laptop is from 2012 but it served me well for the last 3 years

a better question is, why would you get a dual core for things this heavy? I don't say it's not possible, it's just doesn't work that good

[samcool55]

8 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

a better question is, why would you get a dual core for things this heavy? I don't say it's not possible, it's just doesn't work that good

Well, as they would say in dutch "je moet roeien met de riemen die je hebt".

I found out about a year ago i could upgrade it to a quad-core with HT for 60 bucks, but the cooling would probably be unable to handle that (even tho it rarely had to go full blast with the cpu it had so there was some room left) and i didn't need to run many VM's anymore so i kept it as is.

 

It probably wasn't ideal, but it was good enough and didn't cause me too much trouble. In the end i managed to pass the classes which is all i wanted.

Also, it was a 2520M, and not a stupid U-processor like most students had. It wasn't brand new but it ran at 3.0-3.2Ghz all the time, more than the 2.something most students managed to get.

[LukeSavenije]

3 minutes ago, samcool55 said:

je moet roeien met de riemen die je hebt

we don't that a lot

 

3 minutes ago, samcool55 said:

2520M

I thought you were talking about those I7-xxxxU processors, you shouldn't get those

[brob]

It is unclear what the budget is. To meet the specs, I expect one would have to spend at least 1.000€. In addition to budget, you need to specify desired screen size and battery life.

 

[Doorenism]

6 hours ago, brob said:

It is unclear what the budget is. To meet the specs, I expect one would have to spend at least 1.000€. In addition to budget, you need to specify desired screen size and battery life.

 

Budget is honestly as cheap as possible without compromising too much quality. 15" would be nice, and mid level battery life. I don't expect it to last 12 hours, but 4 hours or so would be nice. 

[brob]

"As cheap as possible" is not a budget. It provides absolutely no guidance.